SC’s NBA All-Decade Team (Pt. 1)

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

With all due respect to Andy Williams, Christmas time has nothing on the first week of October.

That's because, for the first time since June, the NBA is back!

Training camp opens for every team this week for what figures to be another great season of NBA basketball.

And like always in the NBA, the offseason was not short on excitement.

Forget about the crazy free agency period we had, just look at what's happened in the last two weeks: the refs have been locked out. The third best Laker married the third best Kardashian. And how about Delonte West!? Okay, too soon.

Don't worry, we'll get to all of those things an much more starting next week as I bring you the second annual "82 Things to Watch For this NBA Season" season preview. We've got a whole month before the season starts to touch on everything that's happened this offseason.

First, there's a more pressing issue at hand.

Anybody who's new to this weekly NBA column needs to know one thing: I love the history of the NBA. Throughout the season, expect to find plenty of obscure old NBA references and links to YouTube clips of various NBA classic moments.

So with that being said, I think that before we embark on a new decade of NBA basketball, we need to take time to look back at the previous decade of NBA basketball, the 2000s, with the official Sports Central NBA All-Decade Team.

Today, we'll take a look at Third-Team members of SC's NBA All-Decade Team. Check back Wednesday for the second team, and the grand finale on Friday when we name the All-Decade First Team.

Before we get to the teams, keep one thing in mind: the entire decade matters. For example, Chris Paul didn't make any of the three teams. He's hands down the best point guard in the game right now. But the fact is, he's only been this dominant for a little over two seasons.

We'll round up and say he was an elite player for 25% of the decade. To me, that doesn't make him one of the best players of the decade, even if at his peak he was as good a point guard as we saw in the 2000s.

Also worth noting, I'm using the same format the NBA uses for its All-NBA teams: once center, two forwards, two guards.

So let's get right to it. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Sports Central NBA All-Decade Team:

Third Team

G Tony Parker

Though his 16.7 points and 5.6 assists per game in the 612 games he played in the 2000s may not blow you away, Tony Parker makes the Third Team because was the starting point guard on the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs three times in the past decade, winning Finals MVP in 2007.

His blinding quickness with the ball combined with his elevated performances in the postseason (he averaged 18.9 points per game in the playoffs) made him one, of if not the most, successful point guard of the decade. The job of any starting point guard is to lead his team to an NBA title. Parker and the Spurs were able to complete that task three times, which is good enough to earn him a spot on the All-Decade Team.

G Dwyane Wade

I mentioned earlier that the entire decade matters, so the second guard spot on the Third Team was the most difficult. On the one hand, there's Chauncey Billups, the ultimate winner. The man played in seven straight Conference Finals, won an NBA title, and a Finals MVP.

On the other hand, there's Dwyane Wade. A player who played in 394 games over the past decade (the fewest of any player on the list). For him to make this list having played 318 less games than Mr. Big Shot, Dwyane Wade had been have been pretty spectacular.

Spectacular, as it turns out, is exactly what Wade was.

Wade's 25.4 points per game was the fourth highest total of any player in the 2000's. He was one of only three players to average at least 20 points and 6 assists per game. He was a five time all-star, made the All-NBA team four times (one first team, two second team, one third team), the all-defensive team twice, won a scoring title, and most importantly, was the NBA Finals MVP in 2006, where he had statistically one of the greatest NBA Finals in the history of the league.

Wade has accomplished more in his career in less than 400 games than 95% of all NBA players have ever or will ever accomplish in their entire career, and he certainly deserves a spot on the All-Decade Team.

F Paul Pierce

Pierce was Mr. Consistency for the Celtics for the entire decade. He averaged 23.9 points per game, good for ninth best in the NBA over that span. Only once in the 10 season of the 2000s did Pierce not average at least 20 points per game. He averaged 19.6 points per game in 2007-08, the year Boston won its one and only title of the decade, and he was named Finals MVP, so I'll cut him some slack.

Pierce's solid play was rewarded all decade long as he was named to seven all-star teams and four All-NBA teams (three third team, one second).

F Ben Wallace

Let's see how long your memory is. At the end of the 2009 season, Ben Wallace was nothing more than a washed up former all-star with leg injuries and a terrible contract.

But for most of the decade, he was the most feared defender in the league, and the heart and soul of one of the best teams of the 2000s.

Big Ben led the league in rebounding in both 2002 and 2003, becoming the first player since Dennis Rodman to average over 15 rebounds per game for an entire season in '03.

Wallace won four Defensive Player of the Year awards, joining Dikembe Mutombo as the only players in NBA history to win the award four times. He was a named to the All-NBA team five times (three second team, two third), the All-Defensive team six times (five first team, one second), and played in four all-star games.

He was also the anchor on the Detroit Pistons teams that won the title in 2004 and went back to the Finals in '05.

Though he may have lost some of his mojo when he left the Pistons after the '06 season, Wallace's resume over the first half of the decade was more than impressive enough to land him a spot on the All-Decade team.

C Dwight Howard

I was going to make a Superman reference here about Howard leaping tall buildings in a single bound to make the All-Decade Team, but that might encourage him to go back into the phone booth for the dunk contest this season, and I think I speak for NBA fans everywhere when I say I've just about enough of that gimmick.

Cheesy exhibition antics aside, Dwight Howard took the NBA by storm when he was selected first overall back in 2004. He not only almost single-handedly revived the Orlando Magic franchise, but he breathed life back into the center position in a decade in which the league seemed to be getting smaller and smaller.

Howard is one of only four players to average at least 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game in the 2000's. His 12.5 rebounds per game is the highest total of any player during that span.

Despite playing only five seasons, Howard has already played in the NBA Finals, has been to three All-Star games, made three All-NBA Teams (two first team, one third team), was All-Defensive twice (one first team, one second), and is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

When you consider the fact that he's only 23-years-old, something tells me that this might not be the only All-Decade Team that Howard's name appears on.

Be sure to check back at Sports Central this Wednesday for the NBA All-Decade Team (Pt. 2) from Scott Shepherd.